Various types of belts for use in pulley drives or transmissions are well-known in the art. The usual belt comprises a tension member bonded to an elastomeric material and covered with a cloth. The usual tension members are steel wires or fiberglass strand; the usual elastomeric material is rubber, either natural or synthetic; and the usual cloth covering is a nylon cloth. These belts are not generally suitable for use in automotive drives because they are not capable of handling the torque and speed requirements of automotive use and the heat generated is detrimental to their construction. Also, they are not suitable for use in a lubricant-filled environment as found in automobile transmissions. Belts particularly suitable for automotive drives have been suggested; one form comprises a plurality of superimposed metal bands with metal load blocks longitudinally movable along the bands. These belts are expensive to manufacture because of the manufacturing tolerances required to match and assemble the bands.
Another belt for pulley transmissions comprises a plurality of interconnected links with angled wing members connected to or formed integrally with the outside links so as to engage the pulley flanges; wing members can also be made to clip onto the roller type chain.
It has also been suggested to construct a chain-belt of a plurality of interconnected ranks or sets of interleaved links, the adjacent sets of which are joined by pivot means. The pivot means can be a round pin or a pin and rocker joint as known in the art. Load blocks are arranged on the links between adjacent connecting pivot means. A chain-belt as thus described can be produced at considerably less cost than the belt of bands and blocks; however, the chain-belt so constructed generates noise of certain frequencies and levels when engaging and/or disengaging the flanges of the pulleys. The noise so generated may be objectionable, especially when the chain-belt is used for automotive purposes.